New Releases May 15-22, & Reader's Choice C*ntest

Happy Monday! Oh, wait. That’s an oxymoron. But since it’s Monday, you know what time it is—time to look at new releases in speculative fiction, from sci-fi to para-rom. A medium-size list this week, as is usual for mid-month (next week=HUGE), but some interesting titles, especially for you fans of traditional fantasy. You might see some dupes from last week, which means either the release date changed or I goofed. Probably the latter.

So, what do YOU want to read? Pick your choice from this week’s list, leave it in the comments, and it could be yours. This contest is international!

Immortal Hearts (Vampire Kisses, Book 9), by Ellen Schreiber (May 15, Katherine Tegen)

Athena “Stormy” Sterling is coming to Dullsville, and Raven is both excited and panicked in anticipation of Alexander’s little sister’s visit. Alexander tells Raven that she and his sister have a lot in common, but can the mini-Raven be everything she hopes for? Alexander calls her Stormy for a reason. Stormy’s visit stirs up the perfect immortal whirlwind. Raven is forced to take a good look at what it would really mean to be a vampire in the Sterling family, aside from some of the things she already loves, like shunning the sun and sleeping in a coffin with Alexander. The final chapter of Vampire Kisses’ nocturnal romance. Young Adult.

Midnight’s Master, by Donna Grant (May 22, St. Martin’s)

Gwynn Austin has no idea why her father has disappeared on a mysterious trip to Scotland. When she goes on a desperate mission to search for him she finds more than she bargains for in a ruggedly handsome, wickedly exciting Highlander who exudes danger and mystery. And when she discovers her own link to Scotland, she’ll have to trust her heart to help lead her...Propelled through time by powerful Druid Magic, Logan Hamilton uses his immortality and powers of the god inside him to help prevent the awakening of an ancient evil in the modern world. He never expects to find help in the form of a beautiful, alluring, and all too tempting woman whose passion and strength matches his own. Together, Logan and Gywnn must fight for their love—before a demon from the past destroys them both. First in a new series.

The Enemy’s Kiss, by Zandria Munson (May 22, Harlequin)

The curse he’d edured for centuries had finally been lifted. And although Nicholas Drakon no longer turned to stone at daybreak, his priority was still to protect his family. So when expert thief Daniela Ferreria stole an ancient Drakon artifact, he vowed to get back what belonged to his clan...and eliminate the threat.  Upon capturing the intoxicating cat burglar, he discovered she was desperate to save her own sister’s life. The unexpected pull he felt for the lovely Daniela had Nicholas rethinking his next move. Family honor was at the core of his very being. But to turn his back on Daniela’s predicament could mean losing the heart he’d just rediscovered.

Shadow Bound (An Unbound Novel), by Rachel Vincent (May 22, Mira)

Kori Daniels is a shadow-walker, able to travel instantly from one shadow to another. After weeks of confinement for betraying her boss, she’s ready to break free of the Tower syndicate for good. But Jake Tower has one final job for Kori, one chance to secure freedom for herself and her sister, Kenley, even if that means taking it from someone else. The job? Recruit Ian Holt—or kill him.Ian’s ability to manipulate the dark has drawn interest from every syndicate in the world, most notably an invitation from Jake Tower. Though he has no interest in organized crime, Ian accepts the invite, because he’s on a mission of his own. Ian has come to kill Tower’s top Binder: Kori’s little sister.

As Dead As It Gets (Bad Girls Don’t Die, Book 3), by Katie Alender (May 15, Hyperion)

It’s been three months since Alexis helplessly witnessed Lydia Small’s violent death, and all she wants is for her life to return to normal.But normal people don’t see decaying bodies haunting photographs. Normal people don’t have to deal with regular intrusions from Lydia’s angry ghost, sometimes escalating to terrifying attacks.At first, it seems that Lydia wants revenge on Alexis alone. But a girl from school disappears one night, and Alexis spots one of Lydia’s signature yellow roses lying on the girl’s dresser the next day. Soon, it becomes clear that several of Alexis’s friends are in danger, and that she’s the only person who can save them. Young Adult.

Nightshifted, by Cassie Alexander (May 22, St. Martin’s)

Nursing school prepared Edie Spence for a lot of things. Burn victims? No problem. Severed limbs? Piece of cake. Vampires? No way in hell. But as the newest nurse on Y4, the secret ward hidden in the bowels of County Hospital, Edie has her hands full with every paranormal patient you can imagine—from vamps and were-things to zombies and beyond. Edie’s just trying to learn the ropes so she can get through her latest shift unscathed.  But when a vampire servant turns to dust under her watch, all hell breaks loose. Now she’s haunted by the man’s dying words—Save Anna—and before she knows it, she’s on a mission to rescue some poor girl from the undead. Which involves crashing a vampire den, falling for a zombie, and fighting for her soul. Grey’s Anatomy was never like this. First in a new series.

Dark Kiss, by Michelle Rowen (May 22, Harlequin Teen)

I don’t do dangerous. Smart, über-careful, ordinary Samantha—that’s me. But I just couldn’t pass up a surprise kiss from my number-one unattainable crush. A kiss that did something to me...something strange. Now I feel hungry all the time, but not for food. It’s like part of me is missing and I don’t know if I can get it back. Then there’s Bishop. At first I thought he was just a street kid, but the secrets he’s keeping are as intense as his unearthly blue eyes. If he’s what I think he is, he may be the only one who can help me. First in a new series. Young Adult.

Dark Magic, by James Swain (May 22, Tor)

Peter Warlock is a magician with a dark secret. Every night, he amazes audiences at his private theater in New York, where he performs feats that boggle the imagination. But his day job is just a cover for his otherworldly pursuits: Peter is a member of an underground group of psychics who gaze into the future to help prevent crimes. No one, not even his live-in girlfriend, knows the truth about Peter—until the séance when he foresees an unspeakable act of violence that will devastate the city. As Peter and his friends rush to prevent tragedy, Peter discovers that a shadowy cult of evil psychics, the Order of Astrum, know all about his abilities. They are hunting him and his fellow psychics down, one by one, determined to silence them forever.

Dog Days, by Elsa Watson (May 22, Tor)

In Elsa Watson’s Dog Days, struggling café owner Jessica Sheldon volunteered to be the chairperson of Woofinstock, Madrona’s annual dog festival, to overcome her reputation as “number one dog hater” in her dog-crazy Northwestern town. Determined to prove her dog-loving credentials, Jessica rescues Zoe, a stray white German shepherd— and in the process the two are struck by lightning. Jessica wakes to discover paws where her feet should be, and watches in horror as her body staggers around the town square…. Zoe and Jessica have switched bodies. Learning to live as a dog is difficult enough, but Jessica’s real worry is saving her café from financial ruin. To complicate matters, she’s falling hard for Max, the town veterinarian. It’s clear that Zoe is thrilled to live life on “human terms,” thoroughly relishing all of the fun and food Woofinstock has to offer. But Zoe is also anxious to use her new human skills to find her missing family—who may not want her back. And Jessica needs to confront a complicated figure from her past before she can move on with her life. Jessica and Zoe will need to learn from each other to set things right, and possibly find acceptance and love in the bargain.

Railsea, by China Miéville (May 15, Del Rey)

On board the moletrain Medes, Sham Yes ap Soorap watches in awe as he witnesses his first moldywarpe hunt: the giant mole bursting from the earth, the harpoonists targeting their prey, the battle resulting in one’s death and the other’s glory. But no matter how spectacular it is, Sham can’t shake the sense that there is more to life than traveling the endless rails of the railsea–even if his captain can think only of the hunt for the ivory-coloured mole she’s been chasing since it took her arm all those years ago. When they come across a wrecked train, at first it’s a welcome distraction. But what Sham finds in the derelict — a series of pictures hinting at something, somewhere, that should be impossible — leads to considerably more than he’d bargained for. Soon he’s hunted on all sides, by pirates, trainsfolk, monsters and salvage-scrabblers. And it might not be just Sham’s life that’s about to change. It could be the whole of the railsea. 

Destroyer of Worlds (Kingdom of the Serpent, Book 3), by Mark Chadbourn (May 22, Pyr)

It is the beginning of the end ...The end of the axe-age, the sword-age, leading to the passing of gods and men from the universe. As all the ancient prophecies fall into place, the final battle rages, on Earth, across Faerie, and into the land of the dead. Jack Churchill, Champion of Existence, must lead the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons in a last, desperate assault on the Fortress of the Enemy, to confront the ultimate incarnation of destruction: the Burning Man. It is humanity’s only chance to avert the coming extinction. Driven to the brink by betrayal, sacrifice and death, his allies fear Jack may instead bring about the very devastation he is trying to prevent. U.S. release.

The Girl in the Clockwork Collar, by Kady Cross (May 22, Harlequin)

In New York City, 1897, life has never been more thrilling — or dangerous. Sixteen-year-old Finley Jayne and her “straynge band of mysfits” have journeyed from London to America to rescue their friend Jasper, hauled off by bounty hunters. But Jasper is in the clutches of a devious former friend demanding a trade — the dangerous device Jasper stole from him — for the life of the girl Jasper loves. One false move from Jasper and the strange clockwork collar around Mei’s neck tightens. And tightens. Young Adult.

A Tree of Bones (Hexslinger, Book 3), by Gemma Files (May 22, ChiZine)

New Mexico, 1867: Months have passed since hexslinger Chess Pargeter sacrificed himself to restore the town of Bewelcome, once cursed to salt by his former lover, “Reverend” Asher Rook. Now a coalition led by Allan Pinkerton’s Detective Agency lays siege to reborn Mayan goddess Ixchel’s notorious “Hex City,” the one place on earth where hexes can act in consort, and the desert just outside Bewelcome has become the front line in what threatens to become a new Civil War, one in which wild magic and black science clash headlong, producing carnage like nothing the world has ever seen.

Zombie Island (Shakespeare Undead, Book 2), by Lori Handeland (May 22, St. Martin’s)

Fresh from a triumphant battle over the zombie horde that invaded London, vampire William Shakespeare concocts a plot to rid the love of his life from the encumbrance of her husband. Will plans to give his ”dark lady,” Katherine Dymond, a potion that will make her sleep the sleep of the dead. Once she is entombed, Will can sneak in, wait for her to awaken, then spirit her away. After her husband returns to his plantation in America, Kate can return to London under a different name and assume a new identity. No one will believe that the dead Katherine and the live Kate are the same woman. Of course, as is often the case with true love, all does not go as smoothly as planned. When the two of them are shipwrecked on an island ruled by a wizard and a nymph, as well as infested by zombies, Will and Kate must stop an even larger plot afoot — one that leads all the way to the royal palaces of Queen Elizabeth.

Nebula Awards Showcase 2012, edited by James Patrick Kelly andJohn Kessel (May 22, Prometheus)

Winners of the 2010 Nebula Award (as voted in 2011 by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America members) are presented here, including the tied short story winners, Kij Johnson’s “Ponies” and Harlan Ellison’s “How Interesting: A Tiny Man.” Also includes Eric James Stone’s winning novelette, That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made; Rachel Swirsky’s winning novella, The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen’s Window; and excerpts from best novel winner Connis Willis’ Blackout/All Clear and Andrew Norton Award winner Terry Pratchett’s I Shall Wear Midnight.

A Confusion of Princes, by Garth Nix (May 15, HarperCollins)

You’d think being a privileged Prince in a vast intergalactic Empire would be about as good as it gets. But it isn’t as great as it sounds. For one thing, Princes are always in danger. Their greatest threat? Other Princes. Khemri discovers that the moment he is proclaimed a Prince. He also discovers mysteries within the hidden workings of the Empire. Dispatched on a secret mission, Khemri comes across the ruins of a space battle. In the midst of it all he meets a young woman named Raine, who will challenge his view of the Empire, of Princes, and of himself. Young Adult.

The Lost Code, by Kevin Emerson (May 22, Katherine Tegen)

What is oldest will be new, what was lost shall be found. The ozone is ravaged, ocean levels have risen, and the sun is a daily enemy. But global climate change is not something new in the Earth’s history. No one will know this better than less-than-ordinary Owen Parker, who is about to discover that he is the descendant of a highly advanced ancient race—a race that took their technology too far and almost destroyed the Earth in the process. Now it is Owen’s turn to make right in his world what went wrong thousands of years ago. If Owen can unlock the lost code in his very genes, he may rediscover the forgotten knowledge of his ancestry . . . and that less-than-ordinary can evolve into extraordinary. Young adult.

Further: Beyond the Threshold, by Chris Roberson (May 22, 47North)

The thirty-fourth century. Humankind is spread across three thousand light years in a myriad of worlds and habitats known as the Human Entelechy. Linked by a network of wormholes with Earth at its center, it is the world Captain RJ Stone awakens to after a twelve-thousand-year cryogenic suspension. Stone soon finds himself commanding the maiden voyage of the first spacecraft to break the light speed barrier: the FTL Further. In search of extraterrestrial intelligence, the landing party explores a distant pulsar only to be taken prisoner by the bloodthirsty Iron Mass, a religious sect exiled from the Entelechy millennia before. Now Stone and his crew must escape while they try to solve the riddle of the planet’s network of stone towers that may be proof of the intelligence they’ve come to find. First in a new series.

2312, by Kim Stanley Robinson (May 22, Orbit)

The year is 2312. Scientific and technological advances have opened gateways to an extraordinary future. Earth is no longer humanity’s only home; new habitats have been created throughout the solar system on moons, planets, and in between. But in this year, 2312, a sequence of events will force humanity to confront its past, its present, and its future. The first event takes place on Mercury, on the city of Terminator, itself a miracle of engineering on an unprecedented scale. It is an unexpected death, but one that might have been foreseen. For Swan Er Hong, it is an event that will change her life.

The King’s Blood (The Dagger and the Coin, Book 2), by Daniel Abraham (May 22, Orbit)

War casts its shadow over the lands that the dragons once ruled. When an act of harrowing betrayal threatens to set the cities afire, all certainties are called into question. Only the courage of a young woman with the mind of a gambler and loyalty to no one stands between hope and universal darkness. The high and powerful will fall, the despised and broken shall rise up, and everything will be remade. And quietly, almost beneath the notice of anyone, an old, broken-hearted warrior and an apostate priest will begin a terrible journey with an impossible goal: destroy a Goddess before she eats the world.

Orb Sceptre Throne (Malazan Empire, Book 4), by Ian C. Esslemont (May 22, Tor)

The epic new chapter in the history of Malaz—the new epic fantasy from Steven Erikson’s friend and co-creator of this extraordinary imagined world. Darujhistan, city of dreams, city of blue flames, is peaceful at last; its citizens free to return to politicking, bickering, trading and, above all, enjoying the good things in life. Yet there are those who will not allow the past to remain buried. A scholar digging in the plains stumbles across an ancient sealed vault. The merchant Humble Measure schemes to drive out the remaining Malazan invaders. And the surviving agents of a long-lost power are stirring, for they sense change and so, opportunity. While, as ever at the centre of everything, a thief in a red waistcoat and of rotund proportions walks the streets, juggling in one hand custard pastries, and in the other the fate of the city itself.

Princeps, by L.E. Modesitt Jr. (May 22, Tor)

The follow-up to Scholar—in which, after discovering a coup attempt and preventing a bloody civil war, Quaeryt was appointed princeps of Tilbor—begins a new episode in the young Imager’s life. Now second only to the governor, and still hiding his powers as an Imager, Quaeryt is enjoying his new position, as well as his marriage to Lord Bhayar’s youngest sister, Vaelora, when a volcanic eruption devastates the old capital of Telaryn. He and his wife are dispatched to Extela, Telaryn’s capitol city, to replace the governor killed in the eruption. Quaeryt and Vaelora must restore order to a city filled with chaos and corruption, and do so quickly. The regiment under his command must soon depart to bolster Telaryn’s border defenses against a neighboring ruler who sees the volcanic devastation as an opportunity for invasion and conquest.

The Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, Book 6), by Michael Scott (May 22, Delacorte)

The sixth and final book in the series. Young Adult.

What do you want to read? I think out of this lot, I really want to read the Daniel Abraham series, which means I’d need to pick up the first one. Speaking of which, the winner of this contest can also pick the first book out of a series featured here. As always a comment enters you into the contest. For extra entries, follow the blog (plus one), follow me on Twitter (@Suzanne_Johnson) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/Suzanne.Johnson.author), and tweet or retweet the contest. Now…go!